Meal in a Bag

A few weeks ago there was an interesting article in The Standard Examiner about a book describing a fascinating method of food storage. The premise behind the book was that instead of (or in addition to) the long range method of storing wheat and rice, etc., that we should also store the food that we use everyday. The author came up with about 100 meals that she could store 'in a bag'.

Kecia and I decided to order the book and try bagging up some meals. She brought Emma and Leah up to my house on Monday and was going to bring the makings of 2 or 3 meals and I was going to organize the makings of 2 or 3 additional meals.

She called me at 9 am that morning and said that she had everyone bathed and dressed and fed and was starting to pack the car but had decided that she wasn't going to be able to bring the meal stuff - there was just too much to pack just to get the three of them here. I told her fine, I would have some food ready to bag.

This is what our first two bags looked like. The first recipe we took directly out of the book. I had all the different ingredients already in my fruit room It is called "Roast Beef Dinner" and consists two cans of chunked roast beef (I had bought a case of the beef a year or so ago when I had gone to the Ogden Cannery and helped can the stuff!), one can of beef gravy, one package of potato pearls (we pulled all the air out of the bag we sealed it in with my Seal-A-Meal machine - that was really handy), a can of vegetables and one bottle of water. The water was to reconstitute the potato pearls. We then scanned the recipe from the book and stapled it onto the bag

We put an expiration date of 10/11 - one year from now. The recipe also called for powdered milk but that was just to make the instant potatoes with and I used potato pearls. Each meal will feed about six people and costs about $5 - and comes with however much bottled water needed to reconstitute it or boil pasta in.
This is the other main meal - tuna noodle casserole. It has a can of tuna, cream of mushroom soup and evaporated milk. I need to find some packets of dried cheese to put on the top of it. We also decided we need to buy some mini packets of salt and pepper to add to each meal. Since this was a meal of my own imagination, we simply wrote out the instructions on the outside of the bag. Once we use a 'bag' we will refill it - when we get the plastic bags with better handles on it we will attach a CD sleeve to put the instruction in and we won't have to refill the bags with the same meals. We can refill the bottles of water though to replace what was used in the meal preparation.
The third meal we did was a breakfast. We seal-a-mealed quick oatmeal, added ziplock sandwich bags with sugar and cinnamon, added six packets of hot choc mix and you can see the two bottles of water - I need to buy one more bottle of water to add to this meal to give the water necessary to make the oatmeal AND the hot chocolate.
Here are the three bags we put together. We are looking for better bags that can be reused again and again. I put these three in my coat closet by my 72 hour kits so that if there is an emergency I can grab them and run - and eat a lot better than what I have in my 72 hour kit...not only that but have enough each meal to share with others since there is only Ed and I.
One of the most exciting things about this whole thing was that this was stuff I already have in my food storage - I just needed to organize it. This is what was left over from the food I brought up from the fruit room before I decided which recipes I wanted to sack up. I have cans of chicken and a box of Brown Rice. I have a spaghetti dinner with a vegetable. I have cans of whole potatoes... and I have packages of beans and rice which in and of itself is a complete protein...

The book is full of simple ideas that I can make up into meal bags or I can just take some of my own tried and true recipes and organize them also. Now I just need to start moving things around under my stair well to give me some shelves to store these meals in. Then when I can't figure out what to fix for dinner I can just go downstairs and 'grab a meal'!!

Kec and I had a lot of fun putting these meals together and plan on doing more together and separately in the future. I think it would be fun to get together with all my girls and make up some meals. And it could be a really fun Relief Society Activity too.

Our Mountain Spot

All summer long you have heard me say "we're going to the mountain"...and off we go, just Ed and I to enjoy each other's company...no phone, no internet...just time away from the hectic lives we lead, enjoying the beautiful mountain retreat. I am not complaining about my life as I truly am spoiled but there are weeks that I am so stressed with constant going going going and running running running and doing doing doing that I NEED my down time to survive. We belong to a private campground in the mountains East of Boise. It is a camp ground literally built on the side of a mountain. We have a fun swimming pool to enjoy, a beautiful commons area covered in grass and surrounded by pine trees (mainly Ponderosa pines) and a club house with a big deck to have parties on. We love the people we have met up in Idaho... our only complaint is that it is so far away from home...5-6 hour drives, depending on whether or not we are hauling a trailer behind us.

This is what my flower garden looked like before I went to work on the weeds.
There are some pretty flowers planted long ago, but it is so inundated with weeds you can't appreciate them at all
I got me a pair of working gloves and a fantastic little hand shovel and went to work. This year I cleaned out the weeds and next year I plan on filling it with flowers! I think I enjoy this because here in Layton the yard has always been Eds - this flower garden in Idaho is mine!! YAY! Now I need to learn about plants that don't take too much water, although we do have access to all we want we don't want to waste it as there is a whole mountain full of people using the same spring!
Frank and Cat said that they have tried planting grass across the street from here several times...but it never took. I think that's because all the seed blew across the road and landed in the flower gardens. The normal weeds weren't hard to get out but the roots on the grass system was a bear. I got blisters on top of blisters this summer cleaning all the grass roots out of the beds.

The grass is going to be an ongoing problem along with the suckers from the wild roses and the various trees around, but if I can stay ahead of the game I can win!! It will just mean spending at least an hour or two every week pulling weeds.
This is a corner of our toy hauler when we went up to the mountain in 2007. We parked on someone else's lot and enjoyed their gorgeous view of the mountain. They had a nice deck overhanging the cliff. We won't be able to do that as we have road and fence right in front of lot - but we have great plans to beautify our little corner of bear mtn.
This is a view from atop the mountain across the canyon looking down on part of Bear Mtn. Mainly you can see the roads traversing the side of the mountain/ I believe the swimming pool is just to the left of the first tree - more than halfway up the 'tree' (the light blue spot). We are WAY across the canyon looking down.
This is a picture of the pool - they heat it with a combination of solar panels (thats the long black stuff you see above the pool) and propane. There is a nice grassy area at the top edge of the pool hidden by the pine trees. Although we have running water and electricity we do not have indoor plumbing (except in our individual trailers), thus the cute little biffy in the lower left hand corner of the picture.
Another view from across the canyon - quite a bit closer. Our trailer is the one to the right of the tree trunk. You can see Frank and Cat's trailer to the left of ours. There are a couple more trailers hidden in the trees - the road zigzags up the mountain side.
Here is our 'new' 2003 Wilderness trailer sitting on the lot. There is a lot of work for us to do to make our lot as pretty and refreshing as many of the older lots are. The open ground at the fore- front of the picture is 'common ground' between us and our neighbors, Frank and Cat. We are going to either plant grass to share, with a fire pit in the middle of it (so we can invite all our neighbors over for an open house and cook s'mores) or we are going to make a 'patio' of flat rocks - again with the fire pit. The hillside behind is going to be terraced so that we can plant flowers AND tomatoes and squash and strawberries...it has to be terraced because it is so steep - but by the end of next year I hope to post a before and after picture showing how pretty and green it turns out.
This picture was taken in August of our old trailer...Ed has been busy leveling out the area - I have one of the most sunny spots on the mountain and I am thankful for it. I love the warmth of the sun. It will be greener though!
This is looking to the East of our trailer - there are two trailer lots on the same level at the end of the road. You can see the outhouse for our level, then there is a beautiful lot next to it that has got so many flowers and bushes planted on the hillside right outside where the door of the trailer would sit. You can see the car and edge of the trailer for Don and Lucinda who live 'at the end of the lane'. The road up the hill takes you to Bobby Lee and Elizabeth's spot.
Another view of our barren hillside that will next year be blooming!



These pavers came out of the unused sand box in the back yard (the grandkids can play in the sand around the swingset now) We are going to use them to make steps up the side of our big hill so we can terrace it and put in a drip system to water the flowers and plants we are going to plant.
i took these pictures this weekend - the sumac in front of my door (across the road) is simply beautiful with the fall colors. The rest of the mountain is just starting to change - but this tree is so striking - and notice please, the absence of weeds!.

another view!



The sumac with the mountains above it

Some of the daisy's I found when I finally got all the weeds cleaned out of the flower gardens.
I think right now Ed and I are being very selfish with our time...but after years of raising kids and working, we are now at the point of our lives when we are ready to retire and boy WE ARE READY. Our little spot at Bear Mtn is OUR spot...just the two of us. We hope to do some more camping and four wheeling with our kids and grandkids with the ATV and the razor and the toy hauler too. The first few years of our retirement I don't know how often we will be home...one or two weeks out of the month maybe. Of course, some of these plans will depend on my dad's health. We hope to go to Germany next summer with Donald and Bonnie, and also head up into Oregon and Washington in our trailer. We figure that when we are sightseeing the North Western states we won't want to haul a four wheeler around so our new trailer will work perfectly. And at some point we want to go on a mission.... probably the fall of 2012.

Our Trip to the Columbia River Gorge

Ed had a Central Region directors meeting in Washington at the Skamania Lodge right on the Columbia River. I got to tag along and was so excited to do so, as I had never been in this part of Washington before, and had never been in Oregon before either. We were going to fly to Portland on the day after Labor Day and then fly home on Friday. We decided to drive instead so that we could see more of the country (and spend some more time at our favorite camping spot in Idaho)

Ed had spent the week in Philadelphia and his flight got him home at 11:00 am on Friday - we had everything packed in the car and ready to go and headed out by 11:3o! We spent Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, camping in the mountains just north of Boise, Idaho. Tuesday morning we headed West to Oregon. It was a beautiful drive - the rolling hills of Eastern Oregon were golden and so soothing. The mountains between LeGrande and Pendleton were lovely. And then we got to the Columbia River and the Gorge.

Gorgeous is the only word that describes that whole area. Miles and miles of driving down past this huge river - being fascinated by the fact that

So here are the pictures -




A gorgeous view from the Vista View looking West toward Portland down the Columbia River Gorge
Turned slightly to my right and took this picture looking up the Columbia River Gorge
Out on a walk at the Skamania Resort with a friend Kris - I was about to take a picture of this beautiful moss covered log when she offered to take a picture of me with it. Since Ed never (hardly) ever takes pictures of me, I said go for it!


This is the view up River from the Skamania Lodge
I am standing on the second floor balcony taking this picture out the front window of the Skamania Lodge
Looking over the same balcony towards the foyer and the front doors of the lodge
HorseTail Falls

We headed up highway 30 to do some sightseeing and this is the first of a whole string of marvelous waterfalls. This one plunges about 280 feet straight down from Horsetail Creek. Ed mentioned that a 'creek' that puts out this much water in Utah would be called a river in Utah!
This is called the Multanomah Falls and it is simply gorgeous!! It falls almost 648 feet total with the main fall being 580 feet down to a small pool - a rock bridge has been built for tourists to get closer - and then another 8 feet farther down. We hiked up to the bridge but didn't hike all the way to the top of the ridge. Then we hopped back in the car again and drove to two more falls but didn't take pictures of them.
Here is Ed leaning back to get the whole fall in one shot!

This is the Bridge of the Gods - about 5000 years ago there was a huge earthquake and rock slide that came down and created a land bridge from shore to shore for hundreds of years. It slowly wore away until all signs of it were gone and the Indians always talked about the Bridge of the Gods. So a bridge was built in the same area only above the water - part of the bridge lifts up so boats can pass under. ..and it was named The Bridge of the Gods. It is a toll road and it cost us $1 every time we went back and forth across it. One side of the bridge is Oregon and the other side is Washington.



Some how these pictures are out of sequence - this, again is the Multonomah Falls...from the top down to the pool and bridge

and from the pool area down to the next level...from here the river turns left and contines on down a slide of rocks. Beautiful
I first saw the mossy trees here and had to get some pictures. You wouldn't be able to trust that old adage that moss grows on the North side of the trunk so if you got lost you could find your directions by looking at the moss.
These are the Cascade Locks built across a portion of the river - there is another 2/3 of the river on the right side of this picture where there are three dams built right next to each other. I would have loved to have seen this river a hundred years ago before the dams were built every 20 miles up and down the river - smoothing it out like a large lake between dams. The locks are here to help the barges and boats move from one water level to the next







This is the paddle wheel boat we got to go on for a dinner cruise up and down the river on Thursday evening with Ed's coworkers. His big boss was there and when Scott told me Happy Anniversary, I told him that I thought it was very nice for his company to treat us to this wonderful vacation for our 43rd wedding anniversary!
On the dinner cruise looking out at the pine covered hills - the weather was very comfortable - it rained quite often but it wasn't cold.
We had a marvelous four days in Oregon/Washington. For our anniversary on Wed the 8th we took off and enjoyed the waterfalls and then went to Tod's chick'n n dumplings for some of the best dumplings we have ever eaten!! It was in Troutdale and it finished off a wonderful day of celebration!

Learning to Shoot

This month I went with Shawn and Ed to an all day training class to learn how to handle a gun. I had taken the class and earned my concealed carry permit but knew that I needed to learn how to handle a gun properly. It was one of the hardest things I have ever in my life done, mainly because I COULDN'T do it!! Eight hours of nonstop training and I was still struggling to get my gun out of the holster!
Most of the morning we spent learning safety and practicing different ways of standing and shooting. Mark is checking here to make sure that I have the correct grip on my pistol
Ed took me out the week before the class and bought me my own Smithfield Arms 9mm pistol. I had been having elbow and finger knuckle pains for several months and I wasn't sure that I could even cock the gun because of the weakness in my hands and arms. Shawn switched pistols with me the morning of the class as his SM 9 wasn't as tight and difficult to operate because he had used it lots and lots before. Mine was still very stiff.
Here is Edward shooting around corners and under "cars"Mark is saying (for the umpteenth time) 'keep those thumbs together'!
This was actually at the end of the day, one of the final exercises where we were 'playing' like we were firing around a parked car or other obstructions. I was really proud of my moves as I went from a standing position to rolling onto the ground and firing and hitting the target and then moving back into a kneeling position as I continued to fire. Then I attempted to stand back up and knelt on an empty shell casing....owwwww....all training went out the window as my old age caught up with me - trying to stand up, get off the casing, waving a loaded pistol around...those poor instructors had their hands full with me!Most of these shots were taken in the afternoon as we attempted, one trainee at a time to shoot on command at different targets, while taking cover behind the barrels. Again - once I got the pistol OUT of the holster and get the RIGHT grip I did okay. But time after time I would attempt to pull the pistol out of the serpa holster and not hold it right because of the angle of the holster and the gun would refuse to fire. Once I checked my grip and held it the right way, I was able to fire and hit!
Got him!
here's Ed firing. Shawn took the pictures.
Aim, shoot, fireI am not sure at what point Shawn took this picture but I am really really close to tears here. It seems like I am a total clutz with no ability to LEARN! All day long the instructors had drilled the same stuff into my head, grip the pistol correctly - grip the pistol correctly...and I kept forgetting to do it. I was so disgusted with myself at the end of the day and any and all confidence I had in my ability to learn something new was totally gone. I figured that if I ran into a bad guy and had a full two minutes to pull my gun from the hoster and get my grip right then I could probably hit him!!


However, I told Mark at the end of the day that I WOULD BE BACK! I knew now what I needed to practice and how I needed to do it. Once I overcome the holster draw and get my thumbs together I will be back to show him that I did learn a lot from the class -

And, Mark is using me as his poster child....even old ladies can learn to shoot http://www.realworldpds.com/default.html

MAYBE! Actually, throughout the whole day once I got the right hold of the gun I was a pretty good shot.